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Hot & Hairy Fiction #4
The Bears of Winter
Winter is a favorite season for Bears, rough, gruff, hairy, and wonderful men who have the heft and fur to keep them warm despite the drop in temperature. In The Bears of Winter, acclaimed editor Jerry Wheeler has collected stories of ice harvesters, a kidnapped Santa Claus, and sleeping bag sagas. Adventure, passion, and romance while it's cold outside. So pull up a chair, light the fire, grab a mug of your favorite cold-weather drink and settle in for some marvelous tales.
- GenresAnthologies
Paperback
First published December 1, 2013
75 people want to read
About the author
Jerry L. Wheeler
21 books29 followersEditor of the Lambda Literary Award finalists Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from Under the Big Top (Lethe Press 2010) and his short story collection Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits (Lethe Press, 2012) as well as three volumes of gay erotica for Bold Strokes Books, Jerry L. Wheeler has appeared in many anthologies, including Law of Desire, Best Gay Romance 2010, Bears in the Wild, and I Like It Like That. His first novel, The Dead Book, is forthcoming from Lethe Press in the fall of 2013. Be sure to catch his book reviews on the web at Out in Print (www.outinprint.net).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 20, 2014
What can you expect? Bears, Bears, & more Bears . . . Muscle-bound beauties, sexy Daddies, adorable cubs and strong bears experiencing life, adventures, and enjoying each other in stories featuring rough play, erotic moments, the consumption of orgasmic feasts, everyday life issues or those all-important connections. Bears hibernating in past, present, and future winter settings ranging from the North Pole to Antarctica, isolated cabins in mountain ranges to ski resorts, and on to far away planets.
This collection flows beautifully with variety instead of sameness. It kicks off strongly beginning with the erotically enticing contemporary foodie piece "Don't Feed the Bear" by R.W. Clinger, Jeff Mann's vampire tale of domination and submission, control and surrender courtesy of a forceful but loving hunkalicious biker in "Snow on Scrabble Creek," and 'Nathan Burgoine's exquisitely executed speculative fiction piece "Psychometry of Snow."
Frank Muse's amusing "Little Suzie" with an erotic Santa – think snicker doodles and black leather jockstrap -- as the ultimate winter Daddy bear fantasy is followed by “Snowblind,” Jeffrey Ricker's creative science fiction tale set in a distant frozen planet, and Max Vos’ extremely heated “Mountain Bear,” a story set in the cold mountains of Tennessee featuring gay bashing southern style, as well as raw lovin' between a writer and a reclusive bear. Serving as a heavy contrast, Jay Neal's reflective poet/writer sets off in an adventure to research early Antarctica explorers and finds hot romance with a devious bear in "Miles, of the Antarctic."
Up next is Xavier Axelson's fabulous speculative fiction/horror tale detailing a bear's quest for justice in the chilling "Sleeping Bear," followed by the emotional roller coaster "Feast of January” by Roscoe Hudson with a wickedly funny beginning and romantic cookfest that quickly turns into a reflective piece about a past loss and grabbing that second chance at life. And Daniel M. Jaffe serves a different sort of romantic holiday treat as his Jewish sex angel finally finds the love of his life at Christmas time in "Romancing the Pole."
The reader is then transported to 1878 and big, hairy lumberjacks and ice harvesters toiling, bunking together, and tenderly caring for each other in "Truckee," one of Dale Chase’s deliciously raw, bearishly hot and gritty stories. It is a smooth transition to contemporary times and a fabulous bear erotic fiction piece by Lewis DeSimone who with his finely tuned insight into men needing hope or a way to move forward utilizes friendship and a new acquaintance to pave the way for that to happen in "The Bears of Winter." This grouping ends with the futuristic "Thaw" by Hank Edwards, a short story memorable for its excellent world-building, fantastic atmosphere, and a dystopian frozen earth that serves as the perfect setting for a dangerous cute-meet between two surviving bears.
In Phillip Williams' rough and tender erotic tale "World of Men," a young, isolated cub desperately wants to experience the world of men and gets his wishes (and then some) when a bear gives him a few lessons in desire. Everything shifts when a man faces reality when friends help him come to terms with his beloved partner's long illness in Charles Hopwood's truly touching "Cold Comfort." And, the anthology ends with a contemporary piece that relies on the character's fantasies and fixation on a bear for most of its eroticism. "The Balaclava" by Nathan Sims is a story that surprises the reader by ending just as it should for the character.
I usually read anthologies in slow motion -- one, maybe two stories at a time -- but with The Bears of Winter it was different. I read one story after another without stopping for a breath in between. It is true that I am a sucker for stories about bears and that in my estimation Jerry L. Wheeler is a fabulous editor, but in this case the proof is in the pudding. All 16 stories meet the required theme, hibernating bears in all sorts of winter landscapes, however, it is quality writing by the contributing authors and the variety and caliber of the stories chosen by Wheeler that keep this anthology fresh and engaging, driving the reader forward until the very end. Highly recommended. Enjoy.
Review originally posted at Impressions of a Reader Grade: A- (4.75 Stars)
This collection flows beautifully with variety instead of sameness. It kicks off strongly beginning with the erotically enticing contemporary foodie piece "Don't Feed the Bear" by R.W. Clinger, Jeff Mann's vampire tale of domination and submission, control and surrender courtesy of a forceful but loving hunkalicious biker in "Snow on Scrabble Creek," and 'Nathan Burgoine's exquisitely executed speculative fiction piece "Psychometry of Snow."
Frank Muse's amusing "Little Suzie" with an erotic Santa – think snicker doodles and black leather jockstrap -- as the ultimate winter Daddy bear fantasy is followed by “Snowblind,” Jeffrey Ricker's creative science fiction tale set in a distant frozen planet, and Max Vos’ extremely heated “Mountain Bear,” a story set in the cold mountains of Tennessee featuring gay bashing southern style, as well as raw lovin' between a writer and a reclusive bear. Serving as a heavy contrast, Jay Neal's reflective poet/writer sets off in an adventure to research early Antarctica explorers and finds hot romance with a devious bear in "Miles, of the Antarctic."
Up next is Xavier Axelson's fabulous speculative fiction/horror tale detailing a bear's quest for justice in the chilling "Sleeping Bear," followed by the emotional roller coaster "Feast of January” by Roscoe Hudson with a wickedly funny beginning and romantic cookfest that quickly turns into a reflective piece about a past loss and grabbing that second chance at life. And Daniel M. Jaffe serves a different sort of romantic holiday treat as his Jewish sex angel finally finds the love of his life at Christmas time in "Romancing the Pole."
The reader is then transported to 1878 and big, hairy lumberjacks and ice harvesters toiling, bunking together, and tenderly caring for each other in "Truckee," one of Dale Chase’s deliciously raw, bearishly hot and gritty stories. It is a smooth transition to contemporary times and a fabulous bear erotic fiction piece by Lewis DeSimone who with his finely tuned insight into men needing hope or a way to move forward utilizes friendship and a new acquaintance to pave the way for that to happen in "The Bears of Winter." This grouping ends with the futuristic "Thaw" by Hank Edwards, a short story memorable for its excellent world-building, fantastic atmosphere, and a dystopian frozen earth that serves as the perfect setting for a dangerous cute-meet between two surviving bears.
In Phillip Williams' rough and tender erotic tale "World of Men," a young, isolated cub desperately wants to experience the world of men and gets his wishes (and then some) when a bear gives him a few lessons in desire. Everything shifts when a man faces reality when friends help him come to terms with his beloved partner's long illness in Charles Hopwood's truly touching "Cold Comfort." And, the anthology ends with a contemporary piece that relies on the character's fantasies and fixation on a bear for most of its eroticism. "The Balaclava" by Nathan Sims is a story that surprises the reader by ending just as it should for the character.
I usually read anthologies in slow motion -- one, maybe two stories at a time -- but with The Bears of Winter it was different. I read one story after another without stopping for a breath in between. It is true that I am a sucker for stories about bears and that in my estimation Jerry L. Wheeler is a fabulous editor, but in this case the proof is in the pudding. All 16 stories meet the required theme, hibernating bears in all sorts of winter landscapes, however, it is quality writing by the contributing authors and the variety and caliber of the stories chosen by Wheeler that keep this anthology fresh and engaging, driving the reader forward until the very end. Highly recommended. Enjoy.
Review originally posted at Impressions of a Reader Grade: A- (4.75 Stars)
September 2, 2014
I spent a lovely month walking the various winters of this book, story by story, often at bedtime (the perfect time to read books about settling down for winter, it seems to me). It's always such a pleasure to be in great company, and once again that's how I feel being included in Jerry L. Wheeler's anthology. He really does put together some of the best themes (see also: Riding the Rails, The Dirty Diner: Gay Erotica on the Menu, Tricks of the Trade: Magical Gay Erotica, On The Run: Tales of Gay Pursuit and Passion, and Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from under the Big Top).
Here the stories are all about bears (those big burly hairy gay men, not the actual animals, though sometimes that line blurs in a tale or two), and all about winter. Winter can be implied or a metaphor, or it can be the middle of winter on plain old Earth. Each author, however, went somewhere different with it, and each story was a fresh - if wintry cold - gust of air.
R.W. Clinger's "Don't Feed the Bear," does something wonderful with second person/first person perspective, and I'll be honest and say it's rarely done as well as it's done here. This piece is erotic and engrossing all the more for the skillful way it's written.
"Snow on Scrabble Creek," by Jeff Mann brings us back Derek Maclaine (hooray!), the vampire from Desire and Devour: Stories of Blood and Sweat and many other collections, and tells us a tale of Appalachian winter, blood, sex, and vengeance. Mann's tales are always so richly written, and this tale is no exception. If you've never read any of the Derek stories, click that link up there and go do yourself a favor.
(I'm up next, with "The Psychometry of Snow," but it's bad taste to chat about my own tale, no?)
"Little Suzie," by Frank Muse is a grin-worthy tale of a man who decides that the best winter bear of them all - Santa - is worthy of a cunning trap, some rope, and a little luck. This was sexy and fun.
Jeffrey Ricker takes us away from Earth and a wintry world in "Snowblind," where spec fic, burly gay bears, and a relationship gone sour sets the stage for a disaster (or maybe a new beginning). This is my favourite kind of science fiction - where the characters are so recognizably still everyday people, but the world around them is fresh and bright and new.
"Mountain Bear," by Max Vos has a grittier feel, and a harsher reality than most of the tales in the collection, but that isn't a criticism - this tale has bite alongside the sweat. A rural retreat for a writer becomes potentially deadly in the face of hate, but there's something else up the road.
I really enjoyed Jay Neal's "Miles, of the Antarctic," which put a man on the trail of some of the original explorers of the Antarctic, and drew a lovely parallel of the "what if?" of history with the events unfolding in the story itself. This was charming and romantic.
"Sleeping Bear," by Xavier Axelson, was a brilliantly done tale of vengeance and justice, set in a small town with a prison that bears a dark secret, and a bear not sleeping through winter, but exacting a bloody restitution. So well done, this tale would be at home in a thriller or horror collection.
"Feast of January," is a sly story that calls out some of the lines drawn between the bears and the not-bears before Roscoe Hudson turns the story to the romantic - with a short hitch in realizing that hanging on to loss can sometimes block the gains of the future.
The next story, "Romancing the Pole," bore a surprising dedication - the author, Daniel M. Jaffe, dedicated the tale to me! I'm truly chuffed - even more so since this story revisits Jaffe's wonderful sex angel character, who so wonderfully crashes through some stereotypes and ageism and brings home a sexy story to boot. This time, the inclusion of other mythological figures makes this a Christmas even our Jewish sex angel is bound to enjoy. (Thank you, Daniel!)
"Truckee," by Dale Chase is another gritty story done in perfect Chase style. Hard working men, historical in flavor, and - to my very welcome surprise - a bit more tenderness and romance than I was expecting. Cleverly woven into ice harvesting, "Truckee" has cold that will bite you down to your bones, but then warms you up all over again.
Lewis DeSimone's "The Bear in Winter" is a tale of restoration, hope, and happenstance that occurs with the backdrop of a snowy mountain, a ski injury, and the release that can come from finding someone who is kind enough to help you see a new future (even if that future isn't with them). I really enjoyed this story, especially in how it turned the tables on a couple of tropes.
Hank Edwards surprised me with the spec fic "Thaw," which was a great story about two men meeting in the midst of an accident in a slightly future world that is our own, but after a disaster. The ice has bite, and Edwards's skilful world-building offers just enough to give you a taste of this setting while letting the characters do the heavy lifting, all while enticing you to hope for these two men who are in a world that is now cruel and unforgiving. I really enjoyed this, and would love to see this world revisited in a longer piece.
"World of Men," by Philip Williams, has a wonderful young man who is desperate to get away from a world where he does not fit, and who steals a hot air balloon to do so - only to crash in the midst of a winter storm and face a cold death. Instead, there's warmth, and the chance of learning that he's not alone, nor a complete misfit with the world after all.
Charles Hopwood's "Cold Comfort" is a bittersweet story, about a man losing his partner to a slow and awful death, and the friends who come to help him. It's compassionate, caring, tackles a hard truth, and I appreciated its inclusion in the collection - so rarely do we talk about our endings or how we should be able to meet them with dignity. Beautifully done.
Last, Nathan Sims - who I adore - brings it home with "The Balaclava" and weaves a story of a man who has coasted too long, and might have forgotten the courage he needs to restore some of the magic in his life. I loved this story, which lulls the reader into thinking it's going in a different direction than were it ends, and leaves you so pleasantly surprised. A perfect ending for a great collection.
Here the stories are all about bears (those big burly hairy gay men, not the actual animals, though sometimes that line blurs in a tale or two), and all about winter. Winter can be implied or a metaphor, or it can be the middle of winter on plain old Earth. Each author, however, went somewhere different with it, and each story was a fresh - if wintry cold - gust of air.
R.W. Clinger's "Don't Feed the Bear," does something wonderful with second person/first person perspective, and I'll be honest and say it's rarely done as well as it's done here. This piece is erotic and engrossing all the more for the skillful way it's written.
"Snow on Scrabble Creek," by Jeff Mann brings us back Derek Maclaine (hooray!), the vampire from Desire and Devour: Stories of Blood and Sweat and many other collections, and tells us a tale of Appalachian winter, blood, sex, and vengeance. Mann's tales are always so richly written, and this tale is no exception. If you've never read any of the Derek stories, click that link up there and go do yourself a favor.
(I'm up next, with "The Psychometry of Snow," but it's bad taste to chat about my own tale, no?)
"Little Suzie," by Frank Muse is a grin-worthy tale of a man who decides that the best winter bear of them all - Santa - is worthy of a cunning trap, some rope, and a little luck. This was sexy and fun.
Jeffrey Ricker takes us away from Earth and a wintry world in "Snowblind," where spec fic, burly gay bears, and a relationship gone sour sets the stage for a disaster (or maybe a new beginning). This is my favourite kind of science fiction - where the characters are so recognizably still everyday people, but the world around them is fresh and bright and new.
"Mountain Bear," by Max Vos has a grittier feel, and a harsher reality than most of the tales in the collection, but that isn't a criticism - this tale has bite alongside the sweat. A rural retreat for a writer becomes potentially deadly in the face of hate, but there's something else up the road.
I really enjoyed Jay Neal's "Miles, of the Antarctic," which put a man on the trail of some of the original explorers of the Antarctic, and drew a lovely parallel of the "what if?" of history with the events unfolding in the story itself. This was charming and romantic.
"Sleeping Bear," by Xavier Axelson, was a brilliantly done tale of vengeance and justice, set in a small town with a prison that bears a dark secret, and a bear not sleeping through winter, but exacting a bloody restitution. So well done, this tale would be at home in a thriller or horror collection.
"Feast of January," is a sly story that calls out some of the lines drawn between the bears and the not-bears before Roscoe Hudson turns the story to the romantic - with a short hitch in realizing that hanging on to loss can sometimes block the gains of the future.
The next story, "Romancing the Pole," bore a surprising dedication - the author, Daniel M. Jaffe, dedicated the tale to me! I'm truly chuffed - even more so since this story revisits Jaffe's wonderful sex angel character, who so wonderfully crashes through some stereotypes and ageism and brings home a sexy story to boot. This time, the inclusion of other mythological figures makes this a Christmas even our Jewish sex angel is bound to enjoy. (Thank you, Daniel!)
"Truckee," by Dale Chase is another gritty story done in perfect Chase style. Hard working men, historical in flavor, and - to my very welcome surprise - a bit more tenderness and romance than I was expecting. Cleverly woven into ice harvesting, "Truckee" has cold that will bite you down to your bones, but then warms you up all over again.
Lewis DeSimone's "The Bear in Winter" is a tale of restoration, hope, and happenstance that occurs with the backdrop of a snowy mountain, a ski injury, and the release that can come from finding someone who is kind enough to help you see a new future (even if that future isn't with them). I really enjoyed this story, especially in how it turned the tables on a couple of tropes.
Hank Edwards surprised me with the spec fic "Thaw," which was a great story about two men meeting in the midst of an accident in a slightly future world that is our own, but after a disaster. The ice has bite, and Edwards's skilful world-building offers just enough to give you a taste of this setting while letting the characters do the heavy lifting, all while enticing you to hope for these two men who are in a world that is now cruel and unforgiving. I really enjoyed this, and would love to see this world revisited in a longer piece.
"World of Men," by Philip Williams, has a wonderful young man who is desperate to get away from a world where he does not fit, and who steals a hot air balloon to do so - only to crash in the midst of a winter storm and face a cold death. Instead, there's warmth, and the chance of learning that he's not alone, nor a complete misfit with the world after all.
Charles Hopwood's "Cold Comfort" is a bittersweet story, about a man losing his partner to a slow and awful death, and the friends who come to help him. It's compassionate, caring, tackles a hard truth, and I appreciated its inclusion in the collection - so rarely do we talk about our endings or how we should be able to meet them with dignity. Beautifully done.
Last, Nathan Sims - who I adore - brings it home with "The Balaclava" and weaves a story of a man who has coasted too long, and might have forgotten the courage he needs to restore some of the magic in his life. I loved this story, which lulls the reader into thinking it's going in a different direction than were it ends, and leaves you so pleasantly surprised. A perfect ending for a great collection.
February 28, 2016
The Bears of Winter is a terrific collection of short fiction celebrating big, hairy men who love other men, written and edited mostly by men. Despite the common theme of "it's fucking cold outside", the settings are pretty varied -- there's a historical in a work camp about guys harvesting ice in the 1870's, a dystopian about two men from rival settlements 30 years after humanity accidentally froze the world in an attempt to stop global warming, a contemporary about a Black bear who accidentally shows up at the club on judgmental skinny white guy night and leaves in disgust only to find he needs a tow and falls for the tow truck driver, and even one set at a research station in Antarctica where a man searches for clues that a lost expedition in the 1900's may have included a star-crossed (ice-crossed?) male couple.
It's nice to read something in which my preferences in men are normalized. It's hard enough being a woman who likes women without having even my impulses toward men not appear in most fictional romances.
Here's a short peek at all the stories. I'm adding "Shira star" after the ones I liked enough that if they had individual Goodreads pages I'd rec them specifically. (I still enjoyed the ones without the star.)
"Warning: Don't Feed the Bear": a love triangle that ends in all-male poly. Contemporary, smug, cute.
I've given "The Psychometry of Snow" by Nathan Burgoine its own review for several reasons: it really stood out, the publisher put it online for free, and it's queer fiction with no sex, which a lot of people have a hard time finding. Definitely Shira star.
"Little Suzie" looks like it's nonconsensual between Santa and a stalker, but it's not--it's actually a consensual kinky scene between Santa and his human boyfriend, and if that's not the cutest setup for a story, I don't even know. Shira star.
"Snowblind": love in a cave on a snowy alien planet while researching space tigers. Shira star.
"Mountain Bear": two huge beardy guys meet because one wants to buy the other one's homemade furniture, realize they're elevendieth cousins, hook up anyway, fight off an attack from the local homophobes.
"Miles, of the Antarctic": a playwright goes to a research station in Antarctica to work on a play about a lost expedition from a hundred years ago; he's convinced that two of the explorers who died out there were a couple. Maybe he'll find proof--or a new boyfriend. Or both. Shira star.
"Sleeping Bear": paranormal. The romance in this one is actually entirely incidental; it's totally there, but the real plot is about injustice in a small town.
"Feast of January": the only Black story in the collection unless I missed something. The protagonist falls for the tow-truck driver who helps him out when he leaves a club in disgust from the bad vibes. Shira star.
"Truckee": historical, 1878. A working-class man falls for his boss at an ice-harvesting work camp. I liked the slow burn on this one. Shira star.
"The Bear in Winter": getting over a breakup by hanging out with some friends (and hanging out does include some casual "friendship sex" if you know what I mean.)
"Thaw": It's been 30 years since someone flipped a switch that was intended to fix global warming but instead turned the Earth into a frozen wasteland. A man from one group of people (who's gay but has never had a chance to act on it since his group is so small and so straight) meets a man from the other group, which he'd been brought up to mistrust, but he's too captivated by his blue eyes and emotional warmth to let that get in the way.
"World of Men": Historical, although I'm not exactly sure of the time period. A very young gay man steals a hot air balloon and crashlands near a cabin belonging to an older man who gives him his first entry into the world of love between men.
"Cold Comfort": another one with no sex. A m/m couple comfort their friend as his husband (partner? forgot) slips away to Parkinson's. Shira star.
"The Balaclava": a man gets a crush on a stranger on the bus whose face he can't even see. This story veered into literary fiction, got very thinky, and had a lot of Narnia references.
Note that "Snow on Scrabble Creek" has dub-con and a confederate bandanna and "Romancing the Pole" has some humor that was Not for Me so I'm not specifically putting my name on a rec of those two stories (although don't get mad at the Romancing author on my account: he's Jewish and the rocks are coming from inside the house, as it were. It's totally fine.)
It's nice to read something in which my preferences in men are normalized. It's hard enough being a woman who likes women without having even my impulses toward men not appear in most fictional romances.
Here's a short peek at all the stories. I'm adding "Shira star" after the ones I liked enough that if they had individual Goodreads pages I'd rec them specifically. (I still enjoyed the ones without the star.)
"Warning: Don't Feed the Bear": a love triangle that ends in all-male poly. Contemporary, smug, cute.
I've given "The Psychometry of Snow" by Nathan Burgoine its own review for several reasons: it really stood out, the publisher put it online for free, and it's queer fiction with no sex, which a lot of people have a hard time finding. Definitely Shira star.
"Little Suzie" looks like it's nonconsensual between Santa and a stalker, but it's not--it's actually a consensual kinky scene between Santa and his human boyfriend, and if that's not the cutest setup for a story, I don't even know. Shira star.
"Snowblind": love in a cave on a snowy alien planet while researching space tigers. Shira star.
"Mountain Bear": two huge beardy guys meet because one wants to buy the other one's homemade furniture, realize they're elevendieth cousins, hook up anyway, fight off an attack from the local homophobes.
"Miles, of the Antarctic": a playwright goes to a research station in Antarctica to work on a play about a lost expedition from a hundred years ago; he's convinced that two of the explorers who died out there were a couple. Maybe he'll find proof--or a new boyfriend. Or both. Shira star.
"Sleeping Bear": paranormal. The romance in this one is actually entirely incidental; it's totally there, but the real plot is about injustice in a small town.
"Feast of January": the only Black story in the collection unless I missed something. The protagonist falls for the tow-truck driver who helps him out when he leaves a club in disgust from the bad vibes. Shira star.
"Truckee": historical, 1878. A working-class man falls for his boss at an ice-harvesting work camp. I liked the slow burn on this one. Shira star.
"The Bear in Winter": getting over a breakup by hanging out with some friends (and hanging out does include some casual "friendship sex" if you know what I mean.)
"Thaw": It's been 30 years since someone flipped a switch that was intended to fix global warming but instead turned the Earth into a frozen wasteland. A man from one group of people (who's gay but has never had a chance to act on it since his group is so small and so straight) meets a man from the other group, which he'd been brought up to mistrust, but he's too captivated by his blue eyes and emotional warmth to let that get in the way.
"World of Men": Historical, although I'm not exactly sure of the time period. A very young gay man steals a hot air balloon and crashlands near a cabin belonging to an older man who gives him his first entry into the world of love between men.
"Cold Comfort": another one with no sex. A m/m couple comfort their friend as his husband (partner? forgot) slips away to Parkinson's. Shira star.
"The Balaclava": a man gets a crush on a stranger on the bus whose face he can't even see. This story veered into literary fiction, got very thinky, and had a lot of Narnia references.
Note that "Snow on Scrabble Creek" has dub-con and a confederate bandanna and "Romancing the Pole" has some humor that was Not for Me so I'm not specifically putting my name on a rec of those two stories (although don't get mad at the Romancing author on my account: he's Jewish and the rocks are coming from inside the house, as it were. It's totally fine.)
November 11, 2014
An eclectic collection of not just erotica, but love, romance, mystery and sorrow. A very enjoyable read. Particularly the stories by Philip Williams and Nathan Sims, and the editor's introduction was very touching.
December 8, 2014
So this is the kind of book I might read but usually wouldn't post publicly on my Goodreads, but I'm making an exception, here, because this anthology was great. While uneven (like all anthologies, really), the stand-outs here elevated the whole work, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It wasn't even all porny (not that there's anything wrong with that)!
The stories that stood out the most to me were:
The Psychometry of Snow by 'Nathan Burgoine - so different, and well written, and sweet. I don't want to say anything else, because it's worth discovering it on one's own. I'd love to see this become a full-fledged novel, I'd be very interested in what happened next, and what else the character might get up to.
Snowblind by Jeffrey Ricker - Bears... in space! Sort of.
Miles, of the Antarctic by Jay Neal - I feel like this one suffered the most for being part of an anthology, and not a stand-alone work. The idea had enough meat to go further, I felt, and when the ending came, it felt sudden, unearned and almost out of character. Still, the characters and setting were great.
Sleeping Bear by Xavier Axelson - Urban fantasy-ish? Horror? I don't know how to classify it, and again the ending just sort of... arrived, but it was well written and engaging and I'll be checking out more by the author.
Feast of January by Roscoe Hudson - It was great to see a different part of the bear community represented, and the characterization was well done.
Truckee by Dale Chase - So sweet, and warm. Loved it.
Thaw by Hank Edwards - Another sci-fi-ish tale, this could have used more space to breathe and develop the characters. I wanted more.
Those were the stories that I enjoyed the most, and there were only a few I didn't enjoy at all. The last few stories felt unmemorable, and the whole thing may have been better served with a stronger story to wrap the whole thing up, but overall, a thoroughly enjoyable anthology (sometimes quite, er, steamy).
It wasn't even all porny (not that there's anything wrong with that)!
The stories that stood out the most to me were:
The Psychometry of Snow by 'Nathan Burgoine - so different, and well written, and sweet. I don't want to say anything else, because it's worth discovering it on one's own. I'd love to see this become a full-fledged novel, I'd be very interested in what happened next, and what else the character might get up to.
Snowblind by Jeffrey Ricker - Bears... in space! Sort of.
Miles, of the Antarctic by Jay Neal - I feel like this one suffered the most for being part of an anthology, and not a stand-alone work. The idea had enough meat to go further, I felt, and when the ending came, it felt sudden, unearned and almost out of character. Still, the characters and setting were great.
Sleeping Bear by Xavier Axelson - Urban fantasy-ish? Horror? I don't know how to classify it, and again the ending just sort of... arrived, but it was well written and engaging and I'll be checking out more by the author.
Feast of January by Roscoe Hudson - It was great to see a different part of the bear community represented, and the characterization was well done.
Truckee by Dale Chase - So sweet, and warm. Loved it.
Thaw by Hank Edwards - Another sci-fi-ish tale, this could have used more space to breathe and develop the characters. I wanted more.
Those were the stories that I enjoyed the most, and there were only a few I didn't enjoy at all. The last few stories felt unmemorable, and the whole thing may have been better served with a stronger story to wrap the whole thing up, but overall, a thoroughly enjoyable anthology (sometimes quite, er, steamy).
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